The Doctor's Wife

And I'm Sexy

Is it wrong that I best know Neil Gaiman from a guest appearance he did on Arthur? I have seen Coraline, but I'm not really familiar with his work. I already dogged Nightmare in Silver so it's fairly obvious that I don't really care about who the writer is. But The Doctor's Wife is a pretty good story.

Plot Summary

Lured by a Time Lord message, the Doctor, Rory and Amy land on a planet in a bubble universe. There, the essence of the TARDIS is drained out by the planet (calling itself House) and placed in the body of a woman named Idris. House eats TARDISs and once the essence is extracted, he moves to consume the Doctor's. But the Doctor, thinking he's saving them, has Rory and Amy go back to the TARDIS where House has taken possession. House launches the TARDIS back towards the normal universe in the hopes of finding more prey and amuses himself by setting Rory and Amy into a mental fun house. The Doctor and Idris cobble together a makeshift TARDIS console from the eaten TARDIS leftovers and manage to land within the Doctor's TARDIS. House corners them in an old control room but when he attempts to erase them, he accidentally transports them back to the main control room. This allows the essence of the Doctor's TARDIS to reenter the mainframe, destroying House in the process. Idris' body burns out from containing the TARDIS essence and she dies, although the TARDIS returns to normal. The Doctor, Amy and Rory fly off to new adventures with the Doctor last seen caressing the console and talking to the TARDIS in a loving manner.

Analysis

This was a very entertaining episode. It's a very interesting concept to see the TARDIS taken out and given a personality. I think we have all talked to a vehicle in some fashion and the idea that it might be able to talk back and interact is a fun one. What's more, despite the direness of the situation, there is a lot of humor in this one. House's two servants, Auntie and Uncle, are particularly amusing in a reserved and gallows humor manner.

The interaction between the Doctor and Idris is particularly good. Idris is a confused mess at first which leads to some amusing lines but as she orients herself she develops a very good re pore with the Doctor. They act in a manner somewhat similar to the Doctor and River do only without River's confidence and more social faux pas. But there is still a very clear bond between the two that would only come from a long and comfortable knowledge of each other.

Amy and Rory are also good, although they don't have as much of a role. The producers play the "let's kill Rory" game again, although it is only an illusion in Amy's mind done by House. This part is the darkest of the episode as there is no levity and some some genuine hatred emanating from the Rory in Amy's mind about her abandoning him. It's a rather interesting juxtaposition to the abandoned Amy in The Girl Who Waited later in the series. But it also gets a touch of the time filler feeling as it goes on.

If there is a complaint about this episode it is that it is pretty thin. There is no real twist other than the soul of the TARDIS being put into Idris' body and House is dispatched with relative ease. I already mentioned that the scenes with Rory and Amy in the TARDIS are good, but do have the air of filler about them and that doesn't help the thin argument.

But, it is good. It's an enjoyable ride and best of all, when Idris dies, you are left with both a sad feeling of losing a friend and wanting the story to go on longer. This is a good rewatch episode and also probably a good episode to show someone less versed in the Doctor Who universe, despite there being a lot of little nods to the Classic Series in it. Definitely one of the high ones for the series. Just not the be all and end all of existence as some of the Neil Gaiman fans might think it is.

Overall personal score: 4 out of 5